Making the web a better place

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web.mp3

Neil

Hello This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English I’m Neil

Sam

And I’m Sam What’s the matter, Neil? You sound upset

Neil

Well, I am, Sam - I just spent an hour working on my computer when it suddenly

froze I lost everything and had to start all over again!

Sam

Agghh, that’s so frustrating - like pop-up internet ads and buffering videos that

never play!

Neil

Modern computers and the internet have revolutionised the way we live today,

bringing us the world with a click of a button But not everyone feels happy

about these technological developments

Sam

While potentially acting as a force for good and progress, the internet also

provides a way of spreading hate and misinformation And for some people, the

World Wide Web remains a mysterious and confusing place

Neil

In this programme, we’ll hear about a new academic subject called Web Science

Web Science studies the technology behind the internet

Sam

But from the human side, it’s also interested in how people interact with each

other online So we’ll be asking whether studying Web Science could make the

internet better for humanity in the future

Neil

But first it’s time for our quiz question I wonder what the pioneers of the

internet would think about how it is used today So the question is, who invented

:the World Wide Web? Was it

a) Bill Gates,

b) Tim Berners-Lee, or

?c) Steve Jobs

Sam

Well, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were the brains behind Microsoft and Apple Mac,

so I’m going to say c) Tim Berners-Lee

Neil

OK, Sam, we’ll find out later Now, because of coronavirus the annual Web

Science conference was held online this year Its theme was ‘making the web

human-centric’

Sam

One of the conference’s key speakers, and co-founder of the new discipline of

Web Science, was Dame Wendy Hall Here she is speaking to BBC World Service’s

:Digital Planet

Dame Wendy Hall

People think about the web as a technology but actually it’s co-created by

society We put the content on, we interact with the technology, with the

platforms, with the social media networks to create it What we study is how

that works as an ecosystem, this coming together of people and technology, and

it’s very interdisciplinary, very socio-technical, and of course these days a lot of

it is powered by AI

Neil

Web Science is not only interested in the technology side of the internet As a

subject it’s very interdisciplinary - involving two or more academic subjects or

areas of knowledge Web Science combines digital technology with subjects

ranging from psychology and robotics to economics and sociology

Sam

Exchanges between humans and the internet can be seen in social media

networks - websites, apps and computer programmes, like Facebook and

Instagram, which allow people to use electronic devices to communicate and

share information

Neil

This view of technology sees the internet as an ecosystem – a complex pattern of

relationships and mutual influences that exists between all living things and their

environment

Sam

One ongoing and topical example of websites helpfully interacting with humans

is the Covid contact tracing app

Neil

You might think the mobile phone app, which tracks movements and contact

between people to combat coronavirus, would be a useful practical application of

internet technology

Sam

But as Carly Kind, Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute in Cambridge, explained

to BBC World Service’s Digital Planet, things are never that straightforward:

Carly Kind

Actually, there’s a lot of more fundamental questions that haven’t been

answered yet such as: is Bluetooth even an adequate mechanism for doing what

it says on the tin, which is detecting contact between two people? The trials so

far show that it’s not actually that great and so, do we know for sure that these

apps work and they work in the way we want them to? Do we get the public

?health information that we need

Neil

Apps like this are designed to support public health - services to improve the

standard of health of a country’s general population

Sam

But Carly thinks the mechanisms used must be suitable and adequate – they

must actually work or do what it says on the tin – an informal idiom meaning

work exactly as it is intended to

Neil

To find this out, trials - tests to discover how effective or suitable something is -

are carried out over a period of time

Sam

The kind of trials which were carried out during the invention of the internet in

?the first place, right, Neil

Neil

Ah yes, the invention of the internet – or to be more accurate, the World Wide

Web In our quiz question I asked you who invented the World Wide Web? What

?did you say, Sam

Sam

I said b) Tim Berners-Lee

Neil

Well, you’re a first class web scientist, Sam, because that’s the correct answer!

Sam

Great! In this programme, we’ve been hearing about Web Science, a new

interdisciplinary subject, combining several areas of study, which investigates

the ecosystem of the internet – the complex pattern of interconnections

between humans and their environment

Neil

Social media networks – websites and apps, like Facebook, which let people use

electronic devices to communicate on the internet – show how humans and

technology can successfully interact

Sam

A new Covid contact tracing app is currently undergoing trials – tests to see if it

works effectively This will discover if it does what it says on the tin – works as

it’s supposed to

Neil

If successful, by alerting people to coronavirus risks the app will support public

health – services aimed at improving the health of the general population

Sam

And that’s all from us for now

Neil

And we hope you’ll join us again soon for more topical English vocabulary here at

6 Minute English Bye for now!

Sam

Bye bye!

VOCABULARY

interdisciplinary

involving two or more academic subjects or areas of knowledge

social media network

website, app or computer programmes, like Facebook and Instagram, allowing

people to communicate and share information on the internet using electronic

devices

ecosystem

complex pattern of relationships and mutual influences between living things are

their environment

public health

system of providing services to improve the standard of health of a country’s

general population

does what it says on the tin

does exactly what it is intended to do (informal)

trials

tests carried out over a limited time period, to discover how effective or suitable

something is

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